Over the past few weeks, IU’s campus has seen a number of protests over issues such as homelessness and climate change. While similar protests have occurred without incident in the past, thanks in part to a number of policies put in place by both the university and the state of Indiana to prevent acts such as setting up extraneous structures and blocking traffic, not all of the recent events followed suit.
As originally reported by the Indiana Daily Student, the “March to End the Madness” protest took place on the afternoon of March 20, across the street from Assembly Hall during an NCAA tournament game. Students had gathered to protest the recent evictions of homeless encampments from public parks in Bloomington.
More than 100 demonstrators shouted and chanted from tents, despite being asked by law enforcement to take down any encampments per university policy. After refusing to comply with police, protestors began marching through the streets, blocking traffic, sometimes both lanes, to continue their demonstration, a blatant violation of state law. They then stopped in front of the IUPD building, where the group further provoked law enforcement, yelling that they smell like “pigs” in a chant led by organizer Patrick Saling.
One organizer described the event as a “success” with the reasoning that no one was injured or arrested. As of this writing, the protestors have not been formally reprimanded for breaking university policy, state law, or provoking law enforcement.
The event has an associated Twitter account, @endthemadnessIN, where they documented the situations described in real time. Regarding law enforcement confronting them, they threatened to continue breaking policy during every IU basketball game, and suggested that because the officers did not confront other groups assembling structures, they too should be above the law.
The very next week, on March 24, a protest surrounding climate change entitled “Keep the Promise” took place in Dunn Meadow. The demonstration was significantly more peaceful than the aforementioned “March to End the Madness.” It was reported that after the main events took place, the group marched to several administrative offices to read off their demands. Then, on March 28th, protestors held the “Bloomington Justice Summit.” The summit was meant to fight for “racial justice,” “social justice,” and “climate activism” and to “create coherent strategies of activism.” Although it appears that the “March to End the Madness” organizers were involved in the summit, it was not nearly as disruptive as the march.
Organizers of the “March to End the Madness” did not respond to The Crimson Post’s request for comment.
